Drake Turned To Drugs To Cope With Fame, Explains His Reason Being: “It’s A Lot Of Pressure”

Drake is opening up about his rise to fame after he released his first single, Best I Ever Had back in 2009. Since the release of his debut song, the rapper has found it hard to live up to fans’ expectations despite having two number one albums, several top-ten hits and collaborations with artists such as Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne.

Speaking to The Guardian, Drake admits he turned to drugs after his career took off due to the amount of pressure he was under, adding that his first album, Thank Me Later, was rushed for its release due to the overwhelming response.

Drake, real name Aubrey Graham, explains: “You get artists in this position who go crazy and don’t know how to handle it. There are people who have killed themselves. There’s the overwhelming stress, how tired you are, the weight on your shoulders of going out there and giving 18,000 people entertainment… it’s a lot of pressure.”

Although he admits on his desire for drugs, he continued to explain that it’s not a excessive habit: “Have I sipped codeine before? Yeah, of course. Have I smoked weed? Yes. Do I drink wine? Yes. But do I do it excessively? No. I’m not a reckless guy. I do it all within moderation.”

Drake is currently filming his newest video, HYFR featuring Lil Wayne. Drake also recently met up with Justin Bieber in the studio where the artists recorded a song together that he hopes will make Bieber’s cut for his newest album, Believe.